Michael Jordan, vice president of student services at Edgecombe Community College, has been selected to receive a Distinguished College Administrator Award from Phi Theta Kappa, the honor society for students attending two-year schools.

Jordan is one of only 25 college administrators selected for the international distinction. He was nominated by ECC’s Alpha Omega Nu chapter of Phi Theta Kappa.

“I am humbled,” he said. “I did not expect to be honored in such a significant way – ever.”

The award is based on support provided to the Phi Theta Kappa organization. Jordan will receive the award at Phi Theta Kappa’s 2014 Annual Convention April 24-25 in Orlando, Fla.

He joined the ECC staff in 1997.

“Throughout his tenure at Edgecombe Community College, Mr. Jordan has been a steadfast supporter of Phi Theta Kappa members and other students,” said Tamara Frank-Pourvady, advisor to Phi Theta Kappa and a professional tutor at the college. “He has been key to the success of our Better World Books recycling drives, which we have held each semester since 2007.

He regularly attends and presents at our induction ceremonies, and he even assists when our chapter hosts regional events.

To be a member of Phi Theta Kappa, students must have completed 12 credit hours in an associate’s degree program and have a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher. Students must then maintain at least a 3.25 grade point average to remain in the group.

“I love to see people set a high standard for themselves and do everything in their means to meet that standard,” Jordan said. When I was in college at East Carolina University, I had family support, football and school. Our students at Edgecombe Community College have family responsibilities, child care obligations, financial challenges, transportation issues and more. For them to be able to juggle and cope with all of these things and still be excellent is extraordinary.

“These are the students I want to help.”

Phi Theta Kappa members want “to see more, learn more, and engulf themselves in the experience of college more. I just like to be around them,” he said.

Jordan’s award marks the fifth time in recent years that Edgecombe Community College has been recognized on an international stage by Phi Theta Kappa.

In 2013, Edgecombe’s Phi Theta Kappa chapter won an International Honors Case Study Challenge Award in a competition sponsored by USA Today. Only four winners were named nationwide.

In 2012, Tamara Frank-Pourvady won an International Distinguished Advisor Award from the Phi Theta Kappa International Convention.

ECC alumna Phyllis Williams won an International Distinguished Member Award in 2007, and ECC alumna Teresa Webb won the same award in 2006.